A good cheap doser?

[David S]

I've had the Jeboa DP-5 for 7 months now.
It has performed beyond my expectations.
I am using it for daily water changes, as well as, ALK, Calcium and Magnesium dosing.
Relatively easy to set up and spot on.
And I purchased it for $70 on EBay, with a 2 year warranty- which I think was an additional 6 or 7 bucks.
Can't beat that deal.

 

[X-37B]

Dose by hand if you have never done it before. You will learn what your tank is doing.
I dosed once a day by hand for 2.5 years in my nano and the first 6 months in my 120.
In my 120 I chose a carx instead of a doser.
It is valuable time spent and is preferred if you have never done it before.
Plus you can put money aside and get a quality unit which is proven and reliable.

 

[Blitheran]

Cheap and Good do not go together.
Somethings require a bit of expense to get a device that is reliable and dependable.
Get a GHL 2.1 SA doser and you be getting a good pump system.

first thought that came to mind, people want reliable and cheap but that is very difficult to acquire

 

[Serendipity]

Great doser here- in my experience over the last couple years

New to this whole entire Salt water Experience and i was Curious what's a Dozer?
and why was this not offered to me when i told the pet store that i wanted to set up a salt water Tank that had a reef in it?

 

[Bigbadfishy]

Jebao worked for me for a year then took a **** and almost lost all my sps.

 

[Rjramos]

I have put 2 new Jebao DP-3’s to the test within 1 week. Both on tanks that have been well established and manually dosed with great parameter stability over 2 years. Both units were properly set up and programmed, so far working as expected. I will advise on my experience with these.
As with any equipment we set up to make maintenance and reefkeeping easier, i keep an eye on things at least daily, especially when newly set up and after things start to get old or crusty. Proper installation in plain view away from moisture is important for the controller and pump too.

 

[X-37B]

I have put 2 new Jebao DP-3’s to the test within 1 week. Both on tanks that have been well established and manually dosed with great parameter stability over 2 years. Both units were properly set up and programmed, so far working as expected. I will advise on my experience with these.
As with any equipment we set up to make maintenance and reefkeeping easier, i keep an eye on things at least daily, especially when newly set up and after things start to get old or crusty. Proper installation in plain view away from moisture is important for the controller and pump too.

Monitoring your equipment no matter what it is makes reef sense.
Any piece of equipment can go bad and its always at the wrong time.
I have a jebao dp-4 sitting brand new in a box. Went with a Carx instead.
If I was going to use any dosing pump. I would use a small enough container so that if the pump stuck on it would not nuke the tank.
That way you are checking it at least every couple days for stability.

 

[Biokabe]

New to this whole entire Salt water Experience and i was Curious what's a Dozer?
and why was this not offered to me when i told the pet store that i wanted to set up a salt water Tank that had a reef in it?

A doser is a small pump that is capable of pumping out precise amounts of liquid solutions. In the case of the best dosers, we're talking tenths of a milliliter for accuracy. Even the cheap ones will be accurate at the milliliter level, similar to peristaltic pumps used in the medical field (and in fact, often using the same technology).

They can be useful for all types of reefers, but they're most useful to those who have tanks full of corals like acropora, which can consume basic elements like calcium very quickly - more quickly than water changes can keep up with. So we use a doser to maintain the levels of trace elements in our water. These elements are typically measured in ppm (parts per million), so it's important to be able to dose very precisely, and also to dose on a consistent basis. You can measure out these liquid solutions and dose them by hand, of course, but humans are notoriously forgetful, so we typically calculate the amount necessary per day and set up our dosers to dose that amount into our tanks automatically.

They're also used in certain reefing systems to reduce water changes. The Triton method, for example, uses a refugium to process wastes and a dosing pump with a four-part solution to replenish trace elements. The point of water changes is to reduce waste products and replenish trace elements, so if you can handle that in other ways, you can theoretically eliminate water changes.

In all likelihood, you weren't offered one at the pet store because they either didn't have any to sell you, or because they didn't think you would buy one. Most reefers don't buy a dosing pump until they've been keeping a reef tank for several years - I didn't get my first dosing pump until about seven years after I set up my first tank, for example. Some reefers will never buy one, preferring to do everything by hand. They're also pretty expensive - the cheapest pump I'm aware of is a tie between the Jebao DP-4 (a 4-pump unit) and the Kamoer X1. The Jebao unit usually sells for $70-$90 and is problematic in its reliability - some units last for years, others stop working properly after months. The Kamoer X1 also retails for about $70 and is fairly reliable, but it only has a single pump, so you'll likely need at least two of them if you're dosing a two-part solution (the most commonly dosed solution).

 

[ReeferSteve]

Monitoring your equipment no matter what it is makes reef sense.
Any piece of equipment can go bad and its always at the wrong time.
I have a jebao dp-4 sitting brand new in a box. Went with a Carx instead.
If I was going to use any dosing pump. I would use a small enough container so that if the pump stuck on it would not nuke the tank.
That way you are checking it at least every couple days for stability.

I’ve often wondered why more people don’t actually do this? Even if you use a bigger bottle you can measure out what you know you’re dosing over the course of 3 days and just manually add that to the doser. It’s still better than daily dosing by hand and you get piece of mind knowing if it fails you aren’t dumping 10x that much at once. It’s a pretty happy medium if you want less expensive but not hand dosing.

 

[Anchor]

I’ve often wondered why more people don’t actually do this? Even if you use a bigger bottle you can measure out what you know you’re dosing over the course of 3 days and just manually add that to the doser. It’s still better than daily dosing by hand and you get piece of mind knowing if it fails you aren’t dumping 10x that much at once. It’s a pretty happy medium if you want less expensive but not hand dosing.

This is one of the more sage pieces of advice I have seen regarding dosing and beginners. +10.....

My 2 cents worth.., Kaomer x1 or get something of similar value.. Versa is considered quality though the they are still new so not much reviews have been posted yet. The versa can also do well as an auto water changer because of the type of pump it is. My experience with Jaboe has not been good.. Any of the pumps can have problems so look for a good warranty.

 

[Stigigemla]

The problem with a question like this is that You get a respond of how the dosers work.
I can say all dosers work good enough. Somebody want a simple programming while others want to have more dosings a day or change the starting time a few minutes or dose more during the day then under the night.
That is not so important for the corals.

Important for the corals is the reliability of the doser. The best way to check that is the threads of failing dosers.
There are dosers that suddenly has emptied a solution bottle. Others has stopped to deliver the solution.
That can kill Your corals.

 

[piranhaman00]

The x1s are great! I used a jebao for awhile but setting up the schedule is a pain. Bluetooth/WiFi input is so nice on a doser vs manually smashing buttons , and the jebao goes up to 10L (9999ml) Which scared me lol

 

[vetteguy53081]

Jebao dp-4

 

[Bob Lauson]

I have been using the marine color dosing pump for the las 2.5years but if I were you, get 2 brs 1.1ml dosing pumps for alk and ca. You can't go wrong with the versa dosing pump though.

Completely agree on the BRS 1.1 ml dosing pump. I have been running one for 8 years. I bought a second one at the same time as a backup and it is still in the box.

 

[smiley28]

So you guys know how kessil has been in the lighting industry before looking into marine applications? Isn’t kamoer a pump manufacturer?.. like before they started the hobby side.

 

[Bxr126]

I'm using two X1's for Alk and Ca. They are easy to set up, hold calibration and haven't failed me yet. At 50 bucks a piece, I'd call that a win.

 

[Stigigemla]

I believe Kamoer started with medical supply. Some years ago they had company history on their homepage. Maybe it is still there.

 

[smiley28]

Medical

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www.kamoer.com

 

[45ZoaGarden]

Cheap and good dosing pumps don’t go together. It is one of the most important pieces of equipment. If it fails, it kills the tank. It is not a piece to cheap out on! If you want cheap, dose by hand. I personally have two apex dos which work just fine. I was going to buy ghl but chose to get an apex system for the trident a few years ago. Ghl is a great doser and has very few bad reviews. The only cheap doser i would try is the X1.

 

[Rjramos]

Jebao DP-3. Installed 2 days ago in plain view. Notice the level in the bottles even. This tells me things are working right. The only way this will fail is if the controller fails and keeps on feeding. Although I like automation, I still take a peek underneath daily to make sure ALL things are operating properly. It’s good practice and safeguard for your reef livestock.